SOMETHING COMPLETELY DIFFERENT

Had rehearsal with Cara Crash last night, and it was definitely a good time. When the announcement was made last week that I would be filling in on lead guitar for her band, it raised a couple of eyebrows.

Bello likes punk?

I was never the biggest punk fan in high school but I liked some bands. Namely, Sex Pistols, Black Flag, Discharge, some Dead Kennedys, some Misfits, not much else really. I could never totally identify with punk but I did like what they had to say as far as “You don’t need tons of money to get music out there.” I admired the DIY ethic that eventually seeped into the upcoming thrash metal scene, and punk was definitely an influence on bands such as Slayer, Metallica, Anthrax, etc.

Playing Cara’s songs definitely forced me to unlearn what I know on the guitar and peel back a lot of layers (of time?) I couldn’t play so metal, so heavy-handed. Had to mix it up with upstrokes as well as downstrokes and of course, the solos couldn’t be written on T-squares and slide rulers. I had to listen to Steve Jones again, really get that feel for how he soloed on NEVER MIND THE BOLLOCKS, as well as throwing in some Chuck Berry moments. I didn’t want to overplay and I even told Cara that if I did, she could stop me.

Fortunately, everything worked out well and we plowed through her set list two times, with some minor tweaking. The songs aren’t SO punk, more like garage rock with touches of punk abandon. And yes, should anyone who knows me come to the March 8th show at Mexicali, they will be in for a treat.

But don’t worry, it’s obvious that MY music comes first. It’s full-speed ahead with my new album, got six songs in the fire. Want to work on three more and then start recording in the summer.